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Ice Princess Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: G (for action violence, language, and rude humor) Theater release: March 18, 2005 by Walt Disney Pictures Directed by: Tim Fywell Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes Cast: Michelle Trachtenberg (Casey Carlyle), Joan Cusack (Joan Carlyle), Kim Cattrall (Tina Harwood), Hayden Panettiere (Gen Harwood), Trevor Blumas (Teddy Harwood) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

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Walt Disney Pictures releases its second family-oriented film this month. Following on the heels of The Pacifier, director Tim Fywell presents Ice Princess, starring Michelle Trachtenberg in the title role. Whereas The Pacifier relied heavily on bathroom humor and slapstick comedy, Ice Princess is about as clean and graceful as can be. Girls of all ages will fall in love with the movie—and parents should enjoy the ride (or the glide) as well.

Casey Carlyle (Trachtenberg) is no ordinary girl. She's a straight-A high school student with her eyes on a Harvard physics scholarship. In order to impress the scholarship committee, though, Casey has to find a way to make her physics experiment personal. The committee wants to see Casey's personality; Casey's not sure she has much of one, but she does like to figure skate. And, as she begins to watch some local skaters at Harwood Skating Rink, Casey's scientific mind kicks into gear: "I bet there is an exact aerodynamic formula [for landing jumps on ice skates]."

Michelle Trachtenberg is radiant in the title role

At Harvard, Casey meets Tina Harwood (Sex and The City's Kim Cattrall), the mother and coach of junior level skater Gen Harwood (Racing Stripes' Hayden Panettiere) and the owner of the rink. Casey also meets Teddy (Trevor Blumas), Tina's son and manager of the rink. From nearly first glance, Casey and Teddy's romantic sparks nearly melt the ice under their feet. But both characters inadvertently play hard-to-get due to Casey's intense focus on her experiment.

As Casey's interest in skating grows, she takes a beginner skating class with Tina, towering over the 8 to 10-year-olds in the class along with her. Tina recognizes Casey's talent, but Tina wants the best for her own daughter—and isn't afraid to say or do so.

Casey and her mom, played by Joan Cusack

At home, Casey faces another challenge: her mother, Joan (the magnificent Joan Cusack). Joan is a liberal, feminist college professor who wants Casey at Harvard, no questions asked. When Casey asks her mom to go to the beginners' recital, Joan says she can't get past the skaters' "twinkie suits" and follows up with a resounding "No"—much to Casey's disappointment.

Nonetheless, Casey doesn't lose heart. She strives for her dream, a dream that started off as a physics experiment and wound up engaging Casey's heart in a way that even she, especially she, could not have predicted. Along the way, the audience gets to enjoy the Trachtenberg's energy, spunk and charisma in the lead role. She's so energetic, in fact, that it's as if the audience were waiting for her to take a breath, similar to Tina urging Casey to breathe before a skating event. At first, Trachtenberg's performance seems a little too upbeat, but Casey, as we come to find out, is an upbeat person. She's got to be for the challenges that she will face throughout the movie.

When Casey discovers her talent on ice, she reconsiders the Harvard dream

Cattrall's performance, as the skating coach, comes off as though she were still playing Sex and the City's Samantha. She delivers her lines with her nose in the air, head tilted up and back, and in the same breathy and narcissistic manner with which Samantha ushers men into and out of her life. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed in Cattrall. Call me crazy, but one of my favorite movies when I was a teenager was Mannequin, in which Cattrall plays Emmy with the same vigor that Trachtenberg channels Casey in Ice Princess. But Cattrall has apparently lost her softness and her compassion—even when it's called for in this movie. Granted, Tina Harwood is one tough lady, but Cattrall fails to convince that she cares for Casey even when the script spells it out for us.

The movie deals with several social and familial pressures. For example, Casey is a math and science geek, so to speak, and faces with the issue of high school popularity (namely, she isn't with the in-crowd). And, Casey and her mother struggle through issues relevant to today's family make-ups. Joan is a single mother who wants great things for Casey, but Joan may not realize that great things don't necessarily include the accomplishments that Joan herself has or has not made. While education is important, Casey has to decide between following her head (Harvard) and following her heart (figure skating).

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